Background

Jon helped one of his clients regain direction as well as implement cohesive structure throughout every aspect of his trades business.

Frustration

“Things started to go wrong which I wasn’t happy with and that’s really what pushed me to find a better way to run my business.”

Motivation for change came from a feeling of being overwhelmed, losing control and feeling lost in the context of where he was going with business.

He had the work and they had demand. But it was because of this work and this demand that Craig was beginning to feel lost. He’d gotten to a point in his business where he was doing as much as he could by himself and if he was to grow, he needed some direction.
“Things weren’t going as well as they should or could have been,” Craig told me. The workload was too much and trying to manage it all while keeping the job standards high was proving difficult.

This is where Jon came in.

Craig had been watching Jon’s video for at least 6 months and finding the content extremely useful.

“Why was this guy putting up so much great content for free? But then I learned that there’s much more to growing and managing your business than watching the videos – the coaching is all about the implementation.

The Fix

Jon and Craig sat down and discussed Craig’s strategy from the beginning.

The first thing Jon noted was that Craig was doing too much. He was trying to be that guy who fixes everything and takes on every job. He thought that was a great approach. But Jon explained that niching down is always better. Focusing on one aspect of the market allows you to hone your marketing and target a specific audience. People value a more comprehensive skill in one specific area than Bob who does it all.

Craig niched down and only accepted work to build high-end architecturally designed houses at $500,000 and above – the work he wanted to be doing.

He let go of smaller jobs. Jobs that took time and attention away from his business’s growth. He said at first it was hard to let them go as he was attached to the notion of them as his ‘bread and butter.’.

Once he let go of this idea, he was able to focus his attention on winning the type of work he wanted.

Jon then helped Craig design a Marketing Machine focused on architecturally designed homes. He started forming relationships with architects and directing his marketing efforts towards them.

Next was sales. They tackled their approach to sales and winning work. A cohesive sales process was constructed and implemented. This process included a quoting process as well as a detailed client proposal. Craig started holding meetings with his clients in person and going over a printed and bound proposal with them.

This new approach to closing a sale allowed Craig to raise his margins considerably and also win more work. “I won a job where I was the most expensive… my margins were at 20% and I was charging both myself and my guys out at more”. He had a new found confidence in himself, his price and his sales process.

The Follow Through

Craig constructed a systematic approach to dealing with his team. He began by writing a process for his team to follow to bring clarity and consistency to their work. He used to give verbal instructions which would become tangled and Craig became continuously frustrated when jobs weren’t completed to the same standard he expected.

Jon gave him the tools to document a good process and Craig brought consistency to his work and business. He trained his team in processes, gave them tools and education in regards to how he wanted things done as well as a common goal to work towards.

Your team is an integral part of your business so their happiness in the workplace is something you have to manage.

Craig was also constantly working on shifting his mindset and how he viewed his business. Jon advised him “Chunk everything down. Simplify” and Craig stuck to this in his approach to his business. He shifted his mindset and focused on expanding his business and managing that growth.